Undergarment for women



Aug.,6, 1935. M. AJGOODMAN 2,010,483

I UNDERGARMENT FOR WOMEN Fiid March 27, 19s4 Zs'nnentor By Mary 15. Goadman/ (IttqruegS.

Patented Aug. 6, 1935 PATENT oFr cE UNDERGARMENT Fore WOMEN Mary A. Goodman, Hartford, Cnn.

,ldpplication am a,

' Claim.

The present invention, relates to nether: garments, and more particularly to .womenfs. drawers 01' the open type which maybe in the formof a 6 separate garmentior embodied in a union suit or a combination garment. I 3

An object oi} the. invention1 is to provide a bifurcated nether. garment which has an-open crotohjportionwith covering or protecting means,

material, provide gathered portions or. scams, or otherwise mar or interrupt the desiredsmooth and flat fitting of the, garment about the hips.

Another object of the-invention is to accomplish the desired results without the use of gores, inserts, fullness of material or other expedients used to close the. crotch opening and: which increase the bulk ofthe material in the. crotch portion of the garment, andto do away 20 with buttoning gores and other, means imposing undesirable strains on the garment ,1 and which are unreliable in use. a v 7 To accomplish the above stated objects, the

present invention provides a bifurcated nether garment with an open crotch portion, and withoutclosure gores or the like, with thecrotch opening terminating a-substantial distance below the, natural waist line, so as to leaveasmoothform fitting waistand hipportionto the, garment, and

garment is normally closed or covered-by a pee culiarly positioned and constructed flap drop lying wholly below the waist and hip portions of the garment and which-hangs from a point of attachment to the garment at theupper rear end of the crotch opening .to a pointsufliciently low to protect adjacent garments from contact with the wearer particularly when seated; The flap drop so suspended may be'readily raised and 40 folded to one side in theact of opening the garment, and will normally remainin. closed and protesting position without the use of buttons or other fastening devices. 1 a 1 It is well known that the dress fashions of the present time require smooth andun'interrupted waist and hip portions with the leastpossible number of thicknesses of material 'inthe hip portion. Chiefiy on'account of this requirement in dress nether garments of the open crotch type are more or less discarded and consequently their advantages are lost. According to the present invention, the hip portion of the garment may remain smooth and uninterrupted and of a single thickness if desired and at the same time the ad-..

vantages of the open crotch may be had without andwhich does not increase the thicknesses of wherein the crotch opening at theback of the 1934, Serial No. 717,667

danger, of contact of ,the outer, garments withthe. body of the wearerf 1 i With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention willibe more fully described herein-., aftnand Iwill be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto. I r

In the drawing, wherein like symbols refer .to. like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of a nether. garment in position on a figure and constructed and provided with a flap drop according to the present invention,and- 1 v v Figure 2 is a like view with the flap drop raised, showing. the suspension of the flap drop, from its upper; end only and showing the relative position of the crotch opening of thegarment.

Referring now to the drawing, I0 designates the body of a nether garment which maybe of any, desired type, a single bifurcated garme t, a i v suit as shown or a combination garment embody-h ing abifurcated-portion. w T w a The garment 10 has a waist portion H which, may conform to the naturai waist of the wearer and which is .disposed at the upper edge of a hip portion lZ. The hipportion lLmay be'one, or ,lllOlfi thicknesses of material and may be smooth. and uninterrupted across-the back of hips. This hip portior [2 extends, for a considerable distance below the waist portion H, such as seven inches in,a medium sized garment. The garment has a pair of leg portions 13 which extend, downwardly from the hip portion I 2 and provide a crotch between the leg portions, and the garmentis interrupted orfle ft openat the crotch to provide a crotch opening, l4. The crotch opening [4' may be of any suitableconfiguration and may have' marginal goresf'oredgings if desired although the same arejnot' required for closing and protecting the crotch opening."

The back of the garment i0 is coveredor closed bya flap drop liwhich'may be'of the same ma terial as that of which the garment-l0 is made or may be of other materialif desired, The'fiap' drop I 5 is preferably an inseparable part of the garment, but not necessarily so as other'objects' and; advantages may. accrue from a modification of the present disclosure.

The flap drop I5 is secured at its upper end only to the garment I0, and this may be accomplished by one or more lines of stitching l6 extending horizontally across the bottom of the hip portion I2 at the back of the garment.

The crotch opening I4 terminates at its upper end at the back of the garment I0, at or adjacent to the lines of stitching I6 that the hip portion I2 is left smooth and uninterrupted. The flap drop I5 is suspended from the lines of stitching I6 at the back of the garment and over the crotch opening I4 to cover the same and protect the outer garments from contact with the body of the wearer. The flap drop I5 is of suitable length to fully cover the crotch opening I4 when the wearer is seated and is of suificient width to overlap the leg portions I3 at opposite sides of the crotch opening I 4 and insure full protection to the outer garments.

Preferably the flap drop I5 flares in width from its upper attached end to its lower end so that when the lower free end of the flap drop I5 is forced between the leg portions I3 to any appreciable extent, or the leg portions I3 be spread apart, the flap drop I5 will still cover the crotch opening I4 and afford the desired protection.

A reinforcing strip I1 is secured by the lines of stitching I6 across the upper end of the flap drop I5 and the bottom of the hip portion I2 of V the garment ID to reinforce the latter and prevent rupture at the top of the crotch opening I4. The'strip I! may be carried at opposite ends beyond the edges of the flap drop I5 to' any desired extent for holding the hip portion I2 in shape and reinforcing all of the adjacent parts of the garment,

Various types of gores, aprons and flaps have been heretofore used but they are not adaptable;

to the bifurcated nether garment of 'the open crotch type as they add to the thickness and fullness of the hip and waist portions of the garment and otherwise increase the bulk and full-- ness of the garment. To obtain the combined advantages of this type of nether garment and the flap, the present invention relatively modifies both the garment and the flap so that the crotch opening I4 and the flap drop I5 do not extend into or above the hip portion I2 of the garment, with the result that additionally the hip portion I2 is left smooth, uninterrupted and fre 3 to conform to the hips of the wearer.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a womans open drawers union suit or from soil resulting therefrom than is provided by the usual device of gores (overlapping .and sometimes buttoned over) set into the legs of an open drawers union suit. Thus the garment may be made without overlapping leg gores; though gores may be used, if-desired, provided thatthey do not give trouble by extending above the level of the top of the drop, or by overlapping each other too much atthat level and thereby binding the'opening. Buttoning over of gores, with its uncertainty andstrain on the garment, is done away with in the present invention. If the material is itself not sufflciently elastic, the drop may be made full across the top, or may be out bias, or both, in order to avoid pull and strain on the garment.

The suspension of the flap drop I5 at its upper end only provides the necessary give between the garment and the flap drop I5 and avoids undue strain on the rest of the garment. The flap drop I5 may be made wholly or in part of elastic material to further insure the automatic adjustment of the drop I5 without subjecting the garment' to undue strain. V

In use, the coming together of the garment legs I3 at the top of the crotch opening I4, whether made with or without gores, should be at least seven inches below the natural waist line II on a medium size garment, so that the flap drop I5 can be set low, and bulk on the hip level beavoided, The flap drop I5 is stitched at I5 firmly across the middle of the back of the garment ID with a band or strip Il extended at each end to distribute strain, and hangs down to, a convenient level above the knees of the wearer, so that whether the wearer is sitting or standing, the'flap 'drop I5 will cover the opening I4 be'- tween the legs I3 of the garment where, when being worn, they tend to spread apart. The flap drop I5'hangs detached at the sides so that its position may be easily changed except at the top. The flap drop I5 may be of any desiredwidth, length, material and construction to adequately" cover the crotch opening I 4 and carry out the obj'ects of this invention, and the flap drop I5 may be secured across the back of the garment at any suitable distance below the waist I I provided that'the hip portion I2 is left free and uninterrupted to the desired distance below the waist! I, the lengths and other dimensions here'inbefore recited being by way of example only and being susceptible to change incident to variousconditions met with in style, use and construction. The double line showing of the waist I I is merely illustrative and diagrammatic to show the approximate natural waist line of the wearer and does not indicate any structural feature of the' garment I0.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifi cations being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

A garment as set forth comprising a body hav-' ing leg, waist'and hip portions, said body in theleg portions thereof having a crotch opening terminating at the rear of the garment at a point spaced downwardly from the upper edge of the waist portion and substantially coplanar with the top of the hip portion, an elongated narrow strip extending horizontally of the body at the upper end of the rear of said crotch opening, stitching for securing said strip to the body, and a flap drop having its upper end interposed between said strip and the body and secured by said stitching, saidi drop at its upper end being narrower than the length of said strip.

MARY A. GOODMAN. 

